The story of 31-year-old violin sensation Huang Mengla begins with his parents' dreams. When they were doctors in rural Shanghai, their son offered their only hope for getting the hukou (household registration) that would allow them to return to the city. The family could live downtown if he was enrolled in the Shanghai Conservatory. So the 4-year-old was sent to violin lessons until he was admitted to the conservatory at age 8.

"They always wanted me to make violin playing my career, not just a hobby," Huang says.

"It's a familiar story of the high expectation an entire generation of Chinese parents has for their only children."

But the realization of his parents' dreams has gone far beyond enabling the family to move back into the city. His unique techniques and innovative interpretations have earned him acclaim throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

He took the top prize at the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy, where he also won the Renato De Barbieri Memorial award for the best interpretation of Paganini's caprices, and the Mario Ruminelli Memorial award.

As one of the most successful young Chinese violinists, Huang has been selling out solo performances around the world, luring throngs to outdoor concerts and topping classical sales charts with his albums.

But Huang says his story isn't like those of many athletic and artistic prodigies. "I was a very naughty young boy. My parents even thought I might have attention deficit disorder," he says, laughing.

He had to spend hours to be able to play a song accurately, and his father would sometimes spank him to instill discipline. "The violin was just an instrument to me," Huang recalls.

"I didn't know why I was playing it and had no feeling for the sound of the strings."

His parents were about to give up. But his teacher, renowned violinist Yu Lina, told them the boy had great potential, which she believed could be honed.

At age 16, Huang got the chance to compete in a violin contest in France. He didn't take home any prizes but did gain a new perspective on music.

"The weather, the architecture and the music of France touched me," he says.

"When I heard the other competitors' playing, the music was not just music. For the first time, I realized the violin is like a window to the player's soul. I speak through the violin with every string I play."

This epiphany unleashed Huang's musical genius. He began snapping up awards around the globe. These include the Gold Medal and Public Prize at the 2001 Sendai International Music Competition in Japan, and the Second Prize in the 2000 Lipinsky and Wieniawsky International Violin Competition in Poland.

At age 20, he took the 49th Paganini Gold Medal. He performed with as much sophistication and subtlety as could be expected from a 20-year-old.

"I still remember the gold-and-red concert hall of the Paganini competition," he says.

"I knew I'd won as soon as I finished performing because I could feel the music and the feedback of the audience."

Huang went on to stage solo concerts and was invited to play across Europe. He went to further his studies with Professor Gyorgy Pauk at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2006.

"Success didn't come overnight. It took a long time," Huang says.

"The decision to continue studying made me relax and gave me time to reflect. I always asked myself: 'Am I good enough?'"

The professor's instruction broadened Huang's vision. "Music can breathe I immersed myself in the music every time I play onstage," he says.

Some of the worst experiences he has had has been breaking strings. "It's not embarrassing or terrifying ... but I feel sorry when it happens because the dream is broken, and both the audiences and I are pulled back to reality," he says.

He also recalls moments when he was playing while accompanied by a piano and was so swept up by the piano music that he forgot to join.

He released his debut album Violin Showpieces through a contract with Universal Music in 2005.

His second recital album Violinissimo, a collection of violin composers' works, came out three years later. And his third album released by Universal Music will be out next week. It features 24 of Huang's favorite songs, including violin concertos by Mozart and Bach.

"I have hated music so much (earlier) in my life but I love it now," he says.

"If you ask me to describe the violin, I would say that it's a part of my body and my voice."

Huang, who married his schoolmate, says he will let his children study music but perhaps not as their profession. "I don't want my children to have that burden. I just hope they will be happy and enjoy what they do."

Huang is now touring in China with Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Nikolaj Znaider and will play at the National Center for the Performing Arts on March 26 and 27.

The Beijing concerts are presented by Volkswagen while the tour is organized by Wu Promotion, one of China's first and leading private performing arts agencies.

Huang and Wu Promotion first cooperated on a 2010 Basel Symphony Orchestra concert to celebrate 60 years of bilateral relations between China and Switzerland. The show's success spurred Huang's ambition to perform with more leading international orchestras, while also leading Wu Promotion to seek to promote more young Chinese musical talent to the West through its established network.

Huang signed a contract with Wu Promotion this March, becoming the first musician represented by its newly established artist management department. The Staatskapelle Dresden China Tour is the first appearance Wu Promotion has arranged for Huang.